A typical white body includes a steel body structure having a side body panel and a steel roof panel that are joined together at the bottom of a flange structure extending along the mating edges of the roof panel and the side body panel. This flange structure creates a roof ditch area, which is defined by the connection of the side body panel and the roof panel and extends along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle roof. The roof ditch is only wide enough for one row of welds. This one row of welds attaches the side panel to a stiffener and an inner panel, and also attaches the roof panel to the side panel and one of the stiffener and the inner panel. With this construction, one of the stiffener and the inner panel is trimmed away to avoid a four-metal thickness weld. Some vehicle manufacturers also apply a laser weld between the roof panel and the side panel outer. With the current crash requirements, layering of multiple sheets have become more common, and with the additional layers of sheet metal in the roof ditch area, there can be four to seven sheets of steel. However, the weld strength cannot be guaranteed through four sheets or thicker. Further, the application of high strength steel makes welding more difficult. With press hardened steel applied in the roof ditch area for crash regulations and four sheets of steel material, one of the sheets needs to be removed for a quality weld. If the press hardened steel is trimmed back, there could be a reduction in crash performance.